Dredge-chuck.



No. 741,334. PATENTED OCT. 13, 1903. J. J. HAYMAN.

DREDGE CHUCK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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SPEGIFKCA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 741,334, dated October 13, 1903.

Application filed January 26, 1903- Serial No. 140,626. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAH J. HAYMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grisfield, in the county of Somerset and State of Maryland, haveinvented certain new and usefullmprovements in Dredge-Ohucks,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in dredge-chucks; and it consists in providing a roller for the ropes of oyster-dredges. It is adapted to be used on all classes of boats and will be made in various sizes, according to the size of the boat upon which it is intended to use it.

The object of my invention is to provide a dredge chuck that will be simple, cheap, easily repaired, and durable, and one that will not become wood-bound as a result of use or under heavy loads 5 and with these and minor objects in view my invention consists of the parts and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved dredgechuck detached. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same on the line A A, Fig. 1, the bolt-head being in elevation. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the dredgechuck. Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view of the dredge-chuck on the line 4: 4, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 5 is a slight modification.

This chuck, as will be readily understood,

-is adapted for application to oyster-boats.

l is a block of any suitable outline, provided with a notch in its rear face having an inclined bottom 2. This block is adapted to be secured to the gunwale of a boat in any suitable manner and is provided withan annular hole 3 in its top.

4: is the dredge-chuck of suitable outline, in one corner of which is formed a groove 5 of a suitable depth and extending from end to end of the chuck. The chuck is provided with a shoulder 6 on one of its sides, below which shoulder it is given a curvature, as at 7, while the extreme lower end of the chuck is pointed, as at 8, said pointed end being adapted to enter and be secured in a notch in the block 1.

9 represents plates securedto the top and bottom of the chuck by suitable means, such as screws 10, said plates having lateral lugs 11 extending from one corner thereof and projecting over said groove 5, thereby closing the groove at its ends, said lugs being provided with openings.

' 12 is a shaft the ends of which are secured in the openings in the lugs 11, the lower end of said shaft extending below the lowermost lug into the opening 3 in the block 1, while the upper end of the shaft is provided with a head. This shaft is secured firmly in. the position shown, but at the same time may be readily removed for the purpose of repair, if such be necessary.

13 is a tubular antifriction-roller loosely journaled upon the shaft 12 in the groove 5, with a space between it and the bottom of the groove 5, the outer periphery of the roller extending beyond the lines of the block.

As is obvious, I may provide a ball-bearing between the loose roller and the shaft, as shown in Fig. 5. r

In the use of my invention the rope or cables attached to the dredge work on the periphery of the loose roller 13, and when the dredge reaches the gunwale of the boat said roller assists in the passing of the dredge over the gunwale of the boat, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Heretofore rollers have been provided in divers positions upon the gunwales of oysterboats; but in every instance these rollers have been rigid upon a shaft and the shaft journaled in metallic journal bearings secured to the chuck; but these have been found defective in that the great weight of the dredge either bends the journals or wears the journal-boxes to such an extent that the roller is pressed closely against the chuck and becomes thereby what is known to the trade as wood-bound, and thereby becomes useless, and on such beats it is very difficult to make any repairs, as the tools usually carried are simply a hatchet and an ax. This has been the actual experience of all oysterdredgers; and it is the purpose of my invention to overcome these objections by fixing the shaft stationary in bearings at each end and placing the roller loosely about the same,

so that there is no wear whatever at the ends of the shaft that would change the distance between the periphery of the roller and the adjacent surface of the chuck.

extending the length of the chuck and positioned in the. openings in said lugs, and a tubular roller loosely journaled on said shaft and positioned a distance from the chuck, whereby a space is left between it and the chuck.

2. The combination with a block secured to a boat, and provided with a notch, with an inclined bottom, and an annular'opening in its top, of a dredge-chuck having a reduced lower end to fit in the notch in the block, a shoulder on one of the faces of the chuck, and a groove in one of the corners of the chuck, plates covering the ends of the chuck and lugs extending laterally from one corner of said plates covering the ends of the groove in said chuck, of a shaft secured in the said groove a distance from the bottom of the groove and secured to said lugs and a tubular roller loosely mounted on said shaft with a space between it and the bottom of the groove, as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSIAH J. HAYMAN. 

